clark & chloe — "Crazy Rich Asians" Review: The Movie We Need (25 Years in the Making)

By the Entertainment Editorial Team

Rachel Wu (Constance Wu, Fresh Off the Boat) is an economics professor at NYU who’s barely ever gone past Queens far be it Asia. That all changes when her boyfriend, Nick Young (Henry Golding in his feature-film debut) asks her to go home with him to attend his best friend’s wedding. Pretty normal right? Except that home for him is Singapore and that her regular, everyman boyfriend happens to be rich… CRAZY rich. What unfolds is an adventure about love, family, and a world that most can only dream about.

*Image Courtesy of Warner Bros. Entertainment.*

That’s the basis for Warner Bros. newest film, Crazy Rich Asians. The film, based on the #1 NY Times Best-Seller by author, Kevin Kwan, is directed by Jon M. Chu (Now You See Me 2, G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Step Up 2: The Streets). It features the most talented cast of Asians and Asian Americans from across the globe from established icons such as Michelle Yeoh to up-and-comers such as Awkwifana (a true superstar in the making).

Some of the Cast of "Crazy Rich Asians". — *Some of the Cast of "Crazy Rich Asians"*.

Let’s get straight to it. The best part of this film is everything about this film. From the lush cinematography to the talented acting (from veterans such as Michelle Yeoh to newcomers such as Henry Golding), everyone both in-front-of and behind the camera was on top of their game. It draws a lot from the classic romantic comedy genre but gives it something much needed - a fresh perspective.

Much has been said about this film since its announcement. The biggest revelation happens to be that this will be the first Hollywood film starring an all-Asian/ Asian American cast in 25 years (since the debut of The Joy Luck Club). While that point alone is stunning, the release of the first trailer sparked a healthy amount of debate (including in our own offices) and pressure from the Asian American community with hopes that this film will be successful enough to spark a movement for more mainstream Hollywood films with Asian/ Asian American faces and creators. But will this film be able to achieve all of that? Perhaps. Maybe, even more.

Crazy Rich Asians has been given the marketing prowess of a major Hollywood studio by Warner Bros. The trailers have been rather… generic and typical to say the least. The film itself is anything but. Take for example, the musical choices. In most romantic comedies, a selection of well-known pop songs would underscore and almost tell an audience how to feel in that moment. Chu spun that trope on its head by taking those well-known Western pop songs and had them redone in Chinese. Something so normally subtle gave this film a brand new look into a typical by-the-book genre.

It’s rare for a film to evoke the feeling that everyone who was involved with creating it truly had a sense of purpose and joy in doing so. The best word to describe would be… authenticity (something most studio films these days sorely lack). The creative decisions were meticulous and deliberate. The outcome resulted in a story with true heart performed by talented actors and told masterfully. Though on the surface one may think this film is made for a specific (Asian) audience, the true beauty lies in the fact that this story and its themes are universal in nature. By giving us an alternate point of view into a timeless tale, we realize we’re not that different from each other after all. Ultimately, seeing is indeed believing and the audience we viewed it with (many of who are critics) gave a thunderous applause when the credits started to roll. We believe you will too.

Crazy Rich Asians opens in theaters nationwide starting on August 15th.

LET US KNOW IN THE COMMENTS SECTION BELOW IF YOU'RE PLANNING ON SEEING "CRAZY RICH ASIANS"!